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Modelling and Decision Support
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 The purpose of the Modeling and Decision Support (MDS) working group is to create an integrated scientific understanding of the way in which people interact with coral reefs. The MDS group will work to help decision makers and reef users better understand and use reefs in a sustainable way, by helping to understand the dynamics of whole system — i.e. both the biophysical and socio-economic parts.
The MDS group will build its program taking advantage of complex systems science, and because this is a new discipline, it intends to ensure that its clients and stakeholders develop an understanding of the strengths and limitations o fthe complex systems approach.
Experience in other large complex projects has shown the best way to do this is through a process of top-down and stepwise-refinement models.
Top-down modeling starts with the whole problem and gradually breaks it down in to its components. In contrast, bottom-up modeling starts with the fundamental components of the system and joins them together to model the whole system. Top-down modeling allows the model builders to interact with the users and build models that are relevant and meaningful to them
Stepwise-refinement means that the model building proceedsthrough iterative steps each of which progressively refines theunderstanding of the problem and elaborates the complexity ofthe model. The depth to which the modeling eventually developsis not set by any hard and fast rule, but rather by the sufficiencyof understanding created for both modelers and users.
Visualisation is another vital component of a research strategy for complex systems, like coral reefs. Presenting model results as maps is an obvious and important way to engage users. Maps have been found to be a particularly powerful means of reaching across disciplinary divides, and for reaching out to non-technical users.
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